http://www.flickr.com/photos/ezrahug...7624181259474/
So i want to strengthen my recently hived TBH and have the opportunity to take a few fames from another hive. Never done this before. Done some research in this forum but not finding exactly the answer i'm looking for (which i'm sure is easy).

Question is: Could i simply insert the new frames on the left side (follower board is already in place obviously) and open the left side entrance thereby allowing the new bees to become accustomed to their new home and pheramones? Or is the divider board too thick and will encourage the new bees to raise a new queen? would it be better to remove the follower/divider board and use newspaper?

Apologies if this has been discussed ad nauseum before but i didn't find the answer.

Thanks in advance!

E

06-12-2010, 05:59 AM

beez2010

Re: Adding frames to a TBH

Ezra,

I assume that the reason nobody will touch this one with a ten foot pole is that you're asking about adding "frames" to your TBH. What do you mean by that? You can't put frames in a KTBH. Do you mean that you have the opportunity to get some top bars (from a hive nearly identical to yours), with drawn combs, eggs, brood, bees and stores?

Assuming that the latter is the case, or for that matter assuming that you are going to get combs and bees of any sort and try to combine them with you existing colony, your idea of keeping them separated using the follower board is probably better than using newspaper as long as the follower board has a gap around it's edges which will allow air-flow between the two groups of bees. I wouldn't open the left entrance, though. Assuming there is a little food in the new combs, they'll be fine. You can remove the board 36 hours later after smoking the hive a bit.

All that being said, if it were me I would just get combs of capped brood, preferably soon to emerge capped brood, shake all the bees off them and then put those directly in with your existing colony. The bees will accept them immediately and when they emerge they will not know that they are anywhere other than where they have always been. To me, that would be the best and easiest way to strengthen the hive using combs aquired from a different hive.

Chris,
Thanks! That's exactly the info I was looking for! And, yeah, I didn't mention that my plan is to chop the sides and bottom off the newly acquired frames thereby making a 'bar'. I built the ktbh to accept 19" bars.

I've become obsessed with making tbhs and am working on my third- going for a more modern, Frank Lloyd Wright look on this one
;)